Meir Zarchi

Meir Zarchi was born in 1937 in Mandatory Palestine

Meir Zarchi was born in 1937 in Mandatory Palestine. As a young man he wrote for children's weeklies. At 14 he left school and worked as a clerk at Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim and the land registry offices.

After his release from the IDF he wrote pulp fiction books, among them Nini in 1957. Nini was later made into a film from his screenplay, starring Arik Einstein in his first film role, and it was banned by the censor. He also wrote the screenplay for Rachel, shown in Israel in 1960.

In 1962 he moved to the United States and worked in the film department of the United Nations in New York. In 1970 he founded Montage Films, an independent company that served film studios. In 1974 he helped a rape victim, and the meeting led him to write Day of the Woman, filmed in 1978 with Camille Keaton.

The film was controversial and faced censorship in several countries. He married Keaton in 1979, and they divorced in 1982. In 1985 he directed and produced Don't Mess with My Sister.

He was executive producer of Holy Hollywood in 1999, directed by his son Terry Zarchi. He executive-produced the 2010 remake of his 1978 film and its sequels in 2013 and 2015. In 2019 he wrote and directed an official sequel to the original, with Keaton returning to her role.